http://homepage.mac.com/philtwo/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2003-08-13%2015.14.35%20-0700/Image-A6A91716CDDB11D7.jpg
― phil-two (phil-two), Wednesday, 2 August 2006 20:09 (seventeen years ago) link
There's this new railway line covering east of shatin now.. A couple of years ago I went to the station at the end of the line, and it was still pretty quiet.. and by walking for an hour or so you'd end up at little communities that were isolated (well for hk anyway).. I guess all that land around that station would probably be all built up now..
― jellybean (jellybean), Wednesday, 2 August 2006 22:01 (seventeen years ago) link
― emsk ( emsk), Friday, 18 August 2006 23:59 (seventeen years ago) link
― toby (tsg20), Monday, 6 November 2006 15:09 (seventeen years ago) link
http://www.globalconnections-int.com/Lncelectricity/adapters/VG4HONGKONGGRD_2_small.JPG
― C J (C J), Monday, 6 November 2006 15:18 (seventeen years ago) link
i guess it depends where you're living.
― jellybean (jellybean), Monday, 6 November 2006 15:25 (seventeen years ago) link
― C J (C J), Monday, 6 November 2006 15:34 (seventeen years ago) link
i'm surprised nobody said "butt" as the answer yet.
― ken c (ken c), Monday, 6 November 2006 15:58 (seventeen years ago) link
*BUMP*
how bad is the Chungking mansions experience? I figure one night is worth it for something so ridiculously cheap...
...and considering I move into this the next day (!) http://www.hulletthouse.com/
― De que estas hablando? (Tannenbaum Schmidt), Thursday, 14 October 2010 15:35 (thirteen years ago) link
it's not so bad actually, they've cleaned it up in terms of the violence, about the worst you can expect is a bunch of hawkers shoving their stuff in your face
when are you coming ?
― dayo, Thursday, 14 October 2010 23:28 (thirteen years ago) link
I land on Sat 30th.... am probably just gonna stick with whatever i booked at Chungking Mansions considering its so cheap. Then move to luxury Hullet House for 1 night and Peninsula for 2..... (perks of girlf who is reviewing them)
I guess I'm there till Wed 3 Nov.
― De que estas hablando? (Tannenbaum Schmidt), Friday, 15 October 2010 22:14 (thirteen years ago) link
hahahah oh my god my friend's dream job is to be a hotel reviewer.
well me and at least one other ilxor are currently in hk, if you need help w/ anything / need a tour guide webmail me
― dayo, Saturday, 16 October 2010 00:32 (thirteen years ago) link
I didn't even know that hotel reviewer was a job
now that I do it's my dream job too
― iatee, Saturday, 16 October 2010 00:33 (thirteen years ago) link
Dayo, if you're not doing anything on on Sunday 31st eve let me know. ( chromogenik[at]gmail[dot]com )
― De que estas hablando? (Tannenbaum Schmidt), Wednesday, 27 October 2010 09:57 (thirteen years ago) link
hi dere,
will be there from 27th apr - 7th may.. there may be FAPability..
― Jlloyd, I'm ready to be heartbroken (ken c), Wednesday, 13 April 2011 16:21 (twelve years ago) link
Hong Kong is great. Go to Lantau island to see the giant Buddha, casino in Macau, greasy spoon, drink lots of milk tea, Snoopy's World, walk around Yuen Long, get on the $4 dollar small bus. The Symphony of Lights is kinda rubbish though.
― jel --, Monday, 21 May 2012 19:26 (eleven years ago) link
symphony of lights is pretty cool on nights when it's not cloudy (which is like, 2/365)
― chris paul george hill (dayo), Monday, 21 May 2012 23:21 (eleven years ago) link
hong kong is the greatest city in the world.
― dylannn, Tuesday, 22 May 2012 02:57 (eleven years ago) link
walking around hong kong never really gets old. pretty much any part of it.
i wish i knew of a good affordable place to stay. i always end up at places with hourly rates, doors that don't lock and tvs that have three channels of porn and one of cartoons. but cheap. but man, i'd rather stay in a chinese chain hotel across the border in luo hu.
― dylannn, Tuesday, 22 May 2012 03:01 (eleven years ago) link
shenzhen is not to be underrated. and i think if i had three days, i would make an effort to walk to take the mtr to lo wu and spend a night in shenzhen, which is a radically different city from hong kong. ((((((((((((((((i don't know how easy it is to just VISIT without planning (the other way around is quite easy since i can walk into hong kong without a visa and stay for 30 days)
― dylannn, Tuesday, 22 May 2012 05:36 (eleven years ago) link
is chungking mansion one of these hourly rate/porn places?
― Rosie 47 (ken c), Tuesday, 22 May 2012 07:23 (eleven years ago) link
i dunno about walking around hong kong (aren't all the places just the same shops in different shopping centres??) but whenever i'm there i just eat all day and that never gets old
― Rosie 47 (ken c), Tuesday, 22 May 2012 07:25 (eleven years ago) link
a trip to shenzhen after some time in HK is truly a strange and worthwhile experience. last time i was there we just went on a whim but the information online is quite confusing regarding which passports can go in and which can't (i think it changes regularly). the japanese ppl i was with were just allowed to go in without a visa but i (with british passport) had to pay for a temporary VISA that allowed me to stay for 5 days as long as you don't leave the city.
― tpp, Tuesday, 22 May 2012 09:17 (eleven years ago) link
Dan Ryan's Chicago Grill!!!!
― Jeff, Tuesday, 22 May 2012 11:41 (eleven years ago) link
no, chungking mansions isn't no-locks/porn, as a rule, i think. whenever i walk thru it's lots of australian backpackers and like german tourists with big cameras. there's a tgi friday's right next door.
there's an ilx thread where i accidentally walk past chungking mansions and end up walking all the way to sham shui po. i never really got a "just the same shops in different shopping centres" vibe from hk but maybe i was in the wrong places.
― dylannn, Wednesday, 23 May 2012 09:29 (eleven years ago) link
http://maps.google.ca/maps?q=Ming+Court+Hotel,+Lockhart+Road,+Hong+Kong&hl=en&ll=22.278188,114.173025&spn=0.00133,0.002411&sll=22.303808,114.159193&sspn=0.010641,0.01929&oq=ming+court+hotel&hq=Ming+Court+Hotel,&hnear=Lockhart+Rd,+Hong+Kong&t=m&z=19&layer=c&cbll=22.278176,114.172919&panoid=qF3Peq2zhzaG-5o6Hghr1Q&cbp=12,55.25,,0,3
where i stay. what a beautiful corner.
― dylannn, Wednesday, 23 May 2012 09:36 (eleven years ago) link
it's probably more that i was in the wrong places (shopping centres)
― Rosie 47 (ken c), Wednesday, 23 May 2012 09:40 (eleven years ago) link
well lockhart road is kinda the 'red light district' of HK, heh
I def get the 'same shops in diff shopping centres' vibe from HK as well
― chris paul george hill (dayo), Wednesday, 23 May 2012 10:01 (eleven years ago) link
I, too, have a quick trip to Hong Kong later this month. What must I do with 4 days?
― kate78, Tuesday, 7 October 2014 21:36 (nine years ago) link
What are you interested in?
Where are you staying?
― 龜, Tuesday, 7 October 2014 21:41 (nine years ago) link
I could probably write 100 posts about what to do in HK
This is the perfect time of year to go too
Just off the top of my head I'd probably skip the Peak unless it happens to be gorgeously clear/sunny on one of your days
It's a timesink in that it takes too long to go up and to get down
― 龜, Tuesday, 7 October 2014 21:43 (nine years ago) link
Staying in Sheung Wan. I like to eat, drink, shop, go to museums, take photos of pretty things. Good to know about the peak, we were thinking of doing it if it was a nice day. I will be with a friend who is a crazily picky eater: vegetarian who won't do spicy or cold or pickled food (going to Japan a few years ago with her was...interesting). I'll only be there for 3.5 days, so what can't I miss?
― kate78, Wednesday, 8 October 2014 17:26 (nine years ago) link
Great, you'll be on the island and near Central, the business/expat district
To get the veg thing out of the way - there's a Pret in the Central MTR station (one stop from Sheung Wan) near the LKF exit (LKF is the bar district), so if all else fails I think she'd be able to find something there?. It's a good thing you're in Sheung Wan since you'll be near lots of expat-friendly (read: vegetarian) options. I liked Veggie SF and MANA! in Central, the former being in an elevator building, the later streetside. Use openrice, it's the Yelp of HK, reviews are mostly in Chinese but there are a few English ones. http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=40435&tc=sr1 Some of my local friends took me to a Chinese vegetarian place in Causeway Bay (also on the island), I liked it and HK has a fair share of these kinds of places, but beware they are pretty oil / soy product dependent. Here's the one I went to: http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=22451&tc=sr1
Eating - HK doesn't really have great food unless you're willing to pay for it, I think most of the street food is kinda blah. The local classics are HK milk tea, Cantonese BBQ (char-siu pork, roast pork, yellow chicken, etc.), dim sum, bakeries (the kind you'd find in any overseas Chinatown). I think HK does mid-level sushi really well, and I'm sure it does high level sushi well too but it's expensive. Mi-ne is probably my favorite convey belt place
Drinking - HKers don't really like to drink, it's mostly expat bars in LKF, hotel bars, and bars for HK locals across the harbor in Tsim Sha Tsui/Prince Edward. Beer is usually shitty but can be decent (read: Hoegaarden), it's rare to find a place with a large selection. Not sure if artisanal cocktails have made it to HK yet. LKF is kinda gross and obnoxious but if you're only doing it for a night it can be pretty fun. If you're there during a Wednesday I'd recommend going to Happy Valley in Causeway Bay to see the horse races, you can get turf-level no problem, beer is cheap and pretty decent. Take a trolley that says "HAPPY VALLEY", if that's too much of a hassle just take a cab (they're relatively cheap in HK). Wan Chai can be okay to drink at too but it's where all the girlie bars are (read: prostitutes)
Shopping - HK has a reputation of being a giant 'mall.' All the malls have all the same chain stores, I really choose the ones I go to based on the architecture and design, Langham Place in Mong Kok is the standout one I'd recommend. There's literally like 5 malls in TST all within a few blocks of each other. My recommendation here would be to spend a night in Mong Kok, probably the busiest place in HK, it's mostly locals. Second would be Causeway Bay, used to be more interesting but a lot of shopowners have sold to luxury watch and jewelry retailers who've gutted the street level shops to serve rich Mainland China tourists
Museums - There are a few museums at the end of Nathan Road by the pier, tbh I lived in HK for three years and never heard about a must-see exhibition at any of them
My recommendations in addition:
Daywalk - I'd take a walk up Nathan Road starting from Tsim Sha Tsui and going through Sham Shui Po (Past Prince Edward MTR station Nathan Road will turn left and change into Cheung Sha Wan road). Just a crazily busy road, you'll find many detours I'm sure, shouldn't take more than a few hours, HK is a crazy small place. TST is where Chungking Mansions from Chunking Express is btw, you'll probably get mobbed by hawkers if you walk in there, it's got a feeling unlike any other part of HK tho
Ferry - Take the ferry between TST and Central or Wan Chai
Harbor view - Go to TST at nighttime on a clear night to see HK island - still blows me away every time I do this
Double decker bus - Maybe I like this only because we don't have any double decker buses in the states but taking a double decker up Nathan road at night, starting from the TST terminal, getting a front seat at the top deck, and riding past all that neon, amazing imo
Octopus card - Might be worth it to get an Octopus card, which you can use to take the MTR, buy shit at 7-11/supermarkets., take trolleys and buses, etc. 50HKD deposit that you can get back when you leave, and you'll probably save a lot of time from having to buy single journey tickets every time you wanna take the MTR
― 龜, Wednesday, 8 October 2014 17:59 (nine years ago) link
Other neighborhoods I think are cool to just sort of walk around in: North Point, Kwun Tong/Lam Tin, Mid-levels (take the Mid Levels escalator up when in Central), HKU (north and uphill of Midlevels), Kowloon City (walk from Lok Fu station or find a bus from Mong Kok), Yuen Long/Tuen Mun/Tin Shui Wai (about an hour from the city and you probably won't have time)
Also, it might be worth it to get a tourist sim card from One2Free for data/Google Maps etc.
― 龜, Wednesday, 8 October 2014 18:04 (nine years ago) link
Finally, I'd be remiss to not mention that you could also check out what the protestors are doing, the big protests are somewhere in Central I think, but there are smaller protests in MK and other places
― 龜, Wednesday, 8 October 2014 18:06 (nine years ago) link
Thanks for the input! Also, should I be bringing cash or is a card ok most places?
― kate78, Monday, 13 October 2014 20:24 (nine years ago) link
Card will be taken at pretty much every store inside a mall or that's a chain
You'll need cash for street food or buying single fare MTR tickets I think
The best rates in the city are found, in typical HK fashion, at a place run on the 17th floor of a commercial building in Central
http://bcel1985.blogspot.com/
They post their rates daily each day on that blogspot
Usually the line moves pretty quickly, I bet if you go during a morning on a weekday there shouldn't be a line
― 龜, Monday, 13 October 2014 20:56 (nine years ago) link
But if you have a debit card it's probably just easier to get money from a machine?
There are tons of exchangers all over the shopping districts like Mong Kok and Causeway Bay and I'd probably just go to those for convenience if you're trying to exchange actual cash
Be careful in a place like Chungking Mansions tho, I would think
― 龜, Monday, 13 October 2014 20:58 (nine years ago) link
Also HK has pretty cool money imo so I'd exchange some cash just for kicks
They have the best two coins in the world (the $5 and $10 coins) and the newer versions of the $10 bill are made from plastic and make for great bookmarks
― 龜, Monday, 13 October 2014 21:13 (nine years ago) link
The $2 coin is pretty good also
― ^ 諷刺 (ken c), Monday, 13 October 2014 22:59 (nine years ago) link
i cannot advice on where to eat for a vegetarian who does not like spicy or cold or pickled foods, sorry
― ^ 諷刺 (ken c), Monday, 13 October 2014 23:10 (nine years ago) link
Think you would have much better food recs in general, tho
― 龜, Monday, 13 October 2014 23:16 (nine years ago) link
actually you can get these egg waffle things??http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_R90t0sgu1s8/TMkVzy99bPI/AAAAAAAAACs/VPB00L1KVIQ/s1600/123910553142.jpg
― ^ 諷刺 (ken c), Monday, 13 October 2014 23:20 (nine years ago) link
drinking: i had a fun time at ozone bar at the ritz carlton - the waiter didn't know how to pour beer but drinks were not outrageously priced. it's meant to be the "highest bar" in the world or something, it was cloudy that night so all we could see were clouds, pretty rubbish view really
― ^ 諷刺 (ken c), Monday, 13 October 2014 23:23 (nine years ago) link
There's a place in LKF/Mid Levels called the Globe that has a decent selection of Belgium bottle beers
― 龜, Monday, 13 October 2014 23:33 (nine years ago) link
i love eating in hong kong but it really depends what you like. i think everywhere you stumble into you will get decent food for cheap, but yes it's difficult to recommend somewhere that truly stands out.
i actually just love stumbling around shopping centres and street and eat as it takes my fancy. there's a little store in sham shui po that i love getting a skewer of curry fish balls from (still $5 a skewer)
i haven't been to here but i would like to try this "tofu fa" which is a sweet dessert soup with smooth tofuhttp://tastytreats.wordpress.com/2008/02/18/smooth-tofu-operator/
there are fancier places and you will have to pay a lot more - i always feel that'd be missing the point of being in hong kong which is never really about being fancy. but then again, choices are a lot more limited as a vegetarian
― ^ 諷刺 (ken c), Tuesday, 14 October 2014 00:03 (nine years ago) link
ALTHOUGH i suppose you could take the cable car to the mountain with the giant buddha and you can get something veggie there for sure.
― ^ 諷刺 (ken c), Tuesday, 14 October 2014 00:06 (nine years ago) link
http://www.plm.org.hk/eng/food.php
― ^ 諷刺 (ken c), Tuesday, 14 October 2014 00:08 (nine years ago) link
good choice. dig deeper into hk.
― XxxxxxxXxxxxxxxxXxxxx (dylannn), Monday, 18 June 2018 07:04 (five years ago) link
lol ironically when I hear “California Dreamin” it is intrinsically linked w “Chungking Express” and nothing else. That would have been so surreal for me.
― the masseduction of lauryn hill (Stevie D(eux)), Friday, 29 June 2018 04:18 (five years ago) link
I understand why people miss Hong Kong. I miss Hong Kong.
― Elvis Telecom, Tuesday, 3 July 2018 02:01 (five years ago) link
i too miss hong kong
― the masseduction of lauryn hill (Stevie D(eux)), Tuesday, 3 July 2018 14:30 (five years ago) link
Thirded, and I’ve only spent three days there!
― mom tossed in kimchee (quincie), Tuesday, 3 July 2018 17:36 (five years ago) link
revive? or is there another thread to discuss HK?
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Wednesday, 16 October 2019 19:52 (four years ago) link
穹顶之下: Rolling 中华人民共和国 / People's Republic of China (PRC) Thread
some mentions on here
― calzino, Wednesday, 16 October 2019 19:57 (four years ago) link
I always forget how staggeringly Western ILX is (unless it is the middle east)...
― Jersey Al (Albert R. Broccoli), Wednesday, 16 October 2019 22:32 (four years ago) link
at least they've got one region sorted :p
― calzino, Wednesday, 16 October 2019 22:44 (four years ago) link
When these protesters are waving British colonial flags or stars and stripes i don't what to say tbh
― calzino, Wednesday, 16 October 2019 22:47 (four years ago) link
I've been there a few times, AMA
― maffew12, Wednesday, 16 October 2019 22:51 (four years ago) link
I recommend a very long recent episode of the "Grubstakers" podcast on HK that eventually goes into the highly diverse makeup of the protesters
― maffew12, Wednesday, 16 October 2019 22:52 (four years ago) link
(ideologically speaking)
― maffew12, Wednesday, 16 October 2019 22:53 (four years ago) link
a lot of the familiar human grievances behind these protests get lost in all the noise, which is very sad.
― calzino, Wednesday, 16 October 2019 22:57 (four years ago) link
I work with a guy from Hong Kong and he's been back and forth to there quite a lot recently but I've never actually heard him talking about what's going on.
― Michael Oliver of Penge Wins £5 (Tom D.), Wednesday, 16 October 2019 23:00 (four years ago) link
Even where I am (chile) one of the Taiwanese pollo places got fucked with by the here Chinese because the restaurant had a HK support sign.
― Yerac, Wednesday, 16 October 2019 23:02 (four years ago) link
unless you are buddies, I'm not sure I'd bother to bring it up. I feel like I have a decent grasp of it but it is in essence a very confused thing. Daily life goes on basically as normal, it isn't the battleground you get the picture of sometimes
― maffew12, Wednesday, 16 October 2019 23:04 (four years ago) link
xp
Yes, we don't have that kind of relationship, he's not really a hanging out kinda guy.
― Michael Oliver of Penge Wins £5 (Tom D.), Wednesday, 16 October 2019 23:07 (four years ago) link
You could just ask him if his family is all in HK and if they are ok.
― Yerac, Wednesday, 16 October 2019 23:12 (four years ago) link
They are, that's why he goes back!
― Michael Oliver of Penge Wins £5 (Tom D.), Wednesday, 16 October 2019 23:23 (four years ago) link
I haven't been following closely but have been seeing bits via twitter. There's this thread instigated by an American who's spent a lot of time in Hong Kong during the riots. I feel slightly wary of the outsider perspective on something that's probably changed character in quite complex ways since its started - he's very supportive of the protests and Hong Kong culture in a way that seems to skew things a bit sometimes, but it seems like a useful summary:
SHAME-FREE thread: ask the dumbest question you have about the Hong Kong protests. I'll try to answer it or loop in a real Hong Konger to answer it for you. No question too ignorant or basic.— Pinboard (@Pinboard) October 15, 2019
He also wrote this quite nice piece on the mechanics of protest.
A Walk in Hong Kong
I found this Chuang piece on the perspective from within China an interesting and useful perspective, with wider application to how government can control media, and how absence of information doesn't mean that there's a gap from which you can infer correctly what's going on, more that you get stuck on an axis of the controlled government messaage and confusion.
Why are informed Beijingers increasingly baffled by the struggle in Hong Kong?
There's a useful timeline if slightly annoyingly presented here.
― Fizzles, Thursday, 17 October 2019 05:35 (four years ago) link
reusing this thread to offset some air miles
theres no real reason to avoid a layover in HK airport in the next few months.....right?
― Banáná hÉireann (darraghmac), Thursday, 2 January 2020 13:13 (four years ago) link
people i know have been through hong kong airport fine over the last month. i almost did as well, but then went via dubai, because of the same doubts as you, which was a) in retrospect a bit silly and b) the rong decision because dubai airport is horrible and i quite like hong kong airport as airports go (good food options and cheap electronics).
― Fizzles, Saturday, 4 January 2020 08:21 (four years ago) link
excellent, seeing as we booked regardless
― Banáná hÉireann (darraghmac), Saturday, 4 January 2020 10:34 (four years ago) link
reusing this thread to offset some air milestheres no real reason to avoid a layover in HK airport in the next few months.....right?― Banáná hÉireann (darraghmac), Thursday, 2 January 2020 13:13 (six months ago) bookmarkflaglink
― Banáná hÉireann (darraghmac), Thursday, 2 January 2020 13:13 (six months ago) bookmarkflaglink
Oh my
― Covfefe and TV (ken c), Saturday, 1 August 2020 00:59 (three years ago) link